Air-valve and method of making same.



C. V. MARTIN. AIR VALVE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 19l8f Patented Dec. 17', 1918.

gnumdoz Chi/d7 227g CLAUD v. MARTIN, or NORWALK, onro.

AIR- VALVE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17, 1918.

Application filed January 9, 1918. Serial No. 211,108.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLAUD V. MARTIN, a

citizen of the United States of America, residing at-Norwalk, in the county of Huron and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Air-Valves and Methods of Making Same, of which the following is a specification. The present invention comprehends generally improvements in valves and more particularly has reference to an air valve and method of making the same.

A the primary aim and object this invention contemplates the provision of a device of the above character, designed particularly for use in rubber balloons such as those used for advertising purposes or as toys for children, the construction thereof being such that it may be readily and quickly inserted in the neck of a balloon and also permits of the balloon being easily inflated and deflated when desired.

It is an equally important object of this invention to provide a valve of the above character wherein the process of making the improved construction is novel and assures of an effective operation of the valve in its entirety.

More particularly this invention includes the provision of a device of the above character wherein the closing flap is constructed of soft flexible material so as to operate freely with the extremely light pressure of air in the balloon while the center of the fiap is reinforced or thickened to assure of sufficient rigidity to prevent collapsing of the flag in the opening in the disk.

mong the other aims and objects of this invention may be' recited the provision of a device of the character described with a view to compactness, and in which the number of parts are few, the construction simple, the cost of production low and the efiiciency high.

Other improvements and novel details in the construction and arrangement of the various parts of the device will be brought out more in detail in the description to follow, which for a clear understanding of the invention should be considered in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, and wherein is disclosed for the purpose of illustration a convenient and satisfactory embodiment of the invention. It is to be noted in this connection that minor changes in the construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the principle of operation of the various parts.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a transverse section showing the invention applied in a neck of a balloon a portion of which is shown;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the disk forming part of the improved valve;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the pin used in the process of making the valve;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the disk with the valve attached thereto and in section;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the finished va ve.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all the above described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now, more particularly, to the accompanying drawings, there is provided a disk 1 formed of rubber or other suitable flexible material provided in its center with an opening 2. .This disk constitutes a foundation or body for the valve and as shown in Fig. 3 there is employed a pin 3 which may be of wood while one end thereof is reduced as at 4'and this reduced end is designed to be inserted in the opening 2 of the disk so that the outer'end of the reduced portion 4 will project slightly beyond the under surface of the disk.

When the disk has been applied on the reduced end of the pin as indicated in Fig. 3 the under surface of the disk and the projecting end of the reduced portion 4 it is coated with a suitable preparation to prevent a solution of liquid rubber from adhering thereto with any degree of tenacity. The pin serves as a handle while the disk is now dipped into a solution of pure rubber to nearly the thickness of the disk. The disk is now removed from the solution and allowed to dry while the act of dipping the disk in this manner in the liquid rubber is repeated until the desired thicknes of rubher has adhered to the disk, as shown by the numeral 5. The result of this dipping action is to form a thin coating of pure rubber over the disk and by reason ofthe fact that the reduced portion of the pin projects through and beyond the disk and since the liquid naturally flows more to the center a thickened "portion 6 is finally produced at the center ofthe coating of rubber 5.

The next step toward the completion of the valve is to cure the coating of rubber 5 or properly vulcanize the same while on the pin. After this action the disk is removed which leaves the hole 2 therein completely closed by a thin sheet of pure rubber.

Tn finally completing the valve the coating or sheet 5 of thin rubber is formed with a semi-circular slit 7 approximately concentric of the opening 2 while the portion lying between the slit is peeled from the disk and constitutes a closing flap 8 which is reinforced at its center by the thickened portion 6.

The completed valve is now secured in the neck of the balloon. It will be observed from the construction that the flap or operating part 8 is thin near its free edge and requires very little pressure to make it close absolutely tight against the adjacent face of the disk while the thickened portion 6 acts as a reinforcement to withstand the pressure of the air in the valve and prevents collapsing of the flap into the hole in the In use the valve may be easily inflated by blowing through the mouth of the person thefiap leaving its seat against the incoming pressure and automatically closing and effectively sealing against the adjacent face of the disk to prevent any leakage of air, and in addition will hold the balloon regardless of any additional pressure which may be exerted when the balloon is handled. When it is desired to deflate the balloon it is only necessary to pinch or squeeze the disk across its diameter to cause the flap to open and permit the air to escape.

It is believed that in view of the foregoing description, a further detailed description of the operation of the invention is entirely unnecessary. Likewise it is believed that the advantages of the invention will be readily apparent.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely diiferent embodiments of this construction could be nfade without departing from the scope thereof and it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limited sense. t is also to be understood that the language used in the insane? following claims is intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is l. A valve of the character described including a flexible disk having an opening therein, a sheet of rubber secured to one face of the disk, and a flap struck out from the sheet for removably closing the opening and formed with a thickened center to prevent collapsing of the flap through the opening.

2. A valve of the character described consisting of a flexible disk having a central opening therein, and coated with an antiadhesive solution, a sheet of pure rubber secured to the disk and lying across one face thereof the disk and thesheet being vulcanized, the sheet being formed with a slit approximately concentric of the opening in the disk to provide a flap for removably closing the opening, the flap having its center thickened and reinforced to prevent collapsing of the same through the opening.

3. The method of making a valve of the character described consisting of forming an opening in a rubber disk, then coating the disk with an anti-adhesive solution, then alternately dipping the disk in pure rubber and allowing the accumulated rubber to dry until the disk reaches a predetermined thickness, then vulcanizing the rubber to the disk, then forming an arcuate slit in the rubber, and finally peeling the portion of the rubber between the slit from the disk to form a flap (fiorkremovably closing the opening in the 4. The method of making a valve of the character described consisting of forming an opening in a rubber disk, then projecting one end of a pin through the opening in the disk, then coating the disk andthe projecting end of the pin with an anti-adhesive solution, then alternately dipping the disk in pure rubber and allowing the accumulated rubber to dry until the disk reaches a predetermined thickness, then vulcanizing the rubber to the disk, then forming an arcuate slit in the rubber about the pin, and finally peeling the portion of the rubber between the slit from the disk and the pin to form a flap for removably closing the opening in the disk.

5. The method of making a valve of the character described consisting of forming an opening in a rubber disk, then projecting a pin through the opening in the disk, then coatingthe under surface of the disk and the pro ecting end of the pin with a compound for preventing the tenacious adhesion of the rubber to the pin, then alternately dipping the disk in pure rubber and alloW- the center thereof and about the enlarged ing the accumulated rubber to dry until the portion and the pin, and finally peeling the disk reaches a predetermined thickness and portion of the rubber between the slit and 10 until an enlarged portion is formed cendisk and the pin for forming a flap for re- 5 trally of the disk and about the pin, then movably closing the openin in the disk.

vulcanizing the rubber to the disk, then In testimony 'WhereofIa Xmy signature. forming an arcuate slit in the rubber near CLAUD V. MARTIN. 

